The present invention relates to variable geometry roller skates having the capability to transform between first and second wheeled configurations, and particularly between a first configuration having forward and rear pairs of wheels on respective common axes spaced longitudinally from one another and a second configuration having the wheels substantially in-line one behind the other in a longitudinal direction.
In the present description, the invention is described in relation to roller skates, although it will be appreciated that the invention is more broadly applicable to conveyances in general, including vehicles such as automobiles or trucks; skateboards; toy vehicles and the like, similarly as set forth in the above-identified patent application. In a preferred embodiment hereof, there is provided a pair of roller skates wherein each roller skate has four wheels displaceable between a first configuration wherein front and rear pairs of wheels are arranged in a typical four-wheel orientation, and a configuration wherein the wheels lie in tandem or in-line configuration with the axes of the wheels transversely parallel to and non-coincident with one another. The term "in-line," "tandem" or "second" configuration thus embraces within its meaning a configuration wherein all wheels are in substantial longitudinal alignment one with the other, i.e., a zero track. It will also be appreciated that each of the roller skates hereof, at a minimum, has at least three wheels with at least two of the wheels longitudinally spaced from one another defining longitudinally spaced axes in the first configuration and two wheels having transverse axes longitudinally spaced from one another and all wheels having axes non-coincident with one another in a second configuration. Hence, the roller skate may include a tricycle roller skate configuration with three wheels in a typical tricycle configuration.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, each of the roller skates hereof may be transformed or converted between a first configuration with front and rear wheels on longitudinally spaced axes, e.g., a front wheel and a pair of rear wheels (tricycle configuration) or more typically front and rear pairs of wheels, and a second configuration, wherein the wheels are in-line or tandem. The transformation from one configuration to the other may be accomplished manually, with the wheels being releasably locked and unlocked in each configuration for use in that configuration and unlocked for displacement toward and locking in the other configuration. Alternatively, the transformation from one configuration to the other may be powered, for example, by employing a spring which biases the wheels for movement from one configuration toward the other configuration. For example, a wheel assembly may be locked in a standard four-wheel configuration with a spring biasing the wheel assembly for movement of the wheels into the second configuration. By manually unlocking the wheels in the four-wheel configuration, the wheel assembly under the bias of the spring may be displaced toward and into the second configuration. The wheels in the second configuration, of course, may be returned to the first configuration manually.
In a preferred embodiment, each roller skate includes a frame or platform, pairs of front and rear wheels, and a connection or mechanism between the frame or platform and the wheels enabling transformation of the roller skate from the four-wheel configuration into the tandem wheel configuration. The transformation mechanism may take the form of a parallelogram linkage, i.e., a pair of longitudinally extending, transversely spaced side frame elements interconnected adjacent their ends by longitudinally spaced, transversely extending end or cross-link elements. The front and rear wheels are connected to this linkage adjacent the pivots of the linkage and each wheel is mounted for rotation about an axis independent of the axis of any other wheel. The cross-links are pivotally coupled to the platform or frame.
The platform or frame may comprise a sole plate having heel and toe portions for receiving an individual's shoe or sneaker as well as straps for securing the individual's shoe or sneaker to the sole plate. Alternatively, the platform or frame may comprise the sole of a shoe customized for roller skating. In either case, shafts, roller plates with bearings, or equivalent structure interconnect the cross-links and the frame or platform forming a structural coupling between the wheels and the sole plate.
In a preferred embodiment according to the present invention, there is provided a variable geometry roller skate comprising a frame, front and rear pairs of wheels carried by the frame and longitudinally spaced from one another for rotation about longitudinally spaced, transversely extending, generally parallel front and rear axes, respectively, in a first configuration enabling the roller skate for movement in a longitudinal direction and means connecting the frame and the front and rear pairs of wheels for enabling displacement of the wheels from the first configuration to a second configuration without disassembly of the wheels relative to the frame, each wheel in the second configuration being rotatable about a discrete, transversely extending axis spaced longitudinally of the axis of each other wheel of the front and rear pairs of wheels, enabling the roller skate for movement in the longitudinal direction, the connecting means enabling the wheels of the front and rear pairs of wheels to lie in substantial longitudinal alignment with one another in the second configuration, whereby all wheels of the pairs thereof lie substantially in-line with one another in the second configuration.
In a further preferred embodiment according to the present invention, there is provided a variable geometry roller skate comprising a frame, front and rear pairs of wheels, means connecting the front and rear pairs of wheels and the frame establishing first and second configurations of the wheels, the pairs of front and rear wheels in the first configuration being longitudinally spaced from one another for rotation about longitudinally spaced, transversely extending front and rear axes, respectively, enabling the roller skate for movement in a longitudinal direction, each wheel of the front and rear pairs of wheels in the second configuration being rotatable about a discrete transversely extending axis spaced longitudinally of the axis of each other wheel of the front and rear pairs of wheels and lying in substantial longitudinal alignment with each other wheel of the front and rear pairs of wheels whereby all wheels of the pairs thereof lie substantially in-line with one another in the second configuration, enabling the roller skate for movement in the longitudinal direction, the connecting means enabling displacement of the wheels from one of the first and second configurations to another of the first and second configurations without disassembly of the wheels relative to the frame.
In a still further preferred embodiment according to the present invention, there is provided a variable geometry roller skate comprising a frame, a pair of wheels and at least a third wheel carried by the frame, the pair of wheels and the third wheel being longitudinally spaced from one another for rotation about longitudinally spaced, transversely extending axes, respectively, in a first configuration of the wheels, enabling the roller skate for movement in a longitudinal direction, means connecting the frame and the pair of wheels for enabling displacement of the pair of wheels from a first orientation in the first configuration of the wheels to a second orientation in a second configuration of the wheels wherein each wheel of the pair of wheels and the third wheel is rotatable about a discrete transversely extending axis spaced longitudinally of the axis of each other wheel thereof, enabling the roller skate for movement in the longitudinal direction in the second configuration, the connecting means enabling the wheels of the pair of wheels without disassembly of the pair of wheels relative to the frame to lie in substantial longitudinal alignment with one another and with the third wheel in the second configuration whereby all wheels of the pair of wheels and the third wheel lie substantially in-line with one another in the second configuration.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide novel and improved variable geometry roller skates which may be transformed between different wheeled configurations and particularly, in a preferred embodiment, may be transformed between a standard four-wheel skate configuration with front and rear pairs of wheels on respective longitudinally spaced axes and a configuration with the wheels substantially in-line with one another in a longitudinal direction.